Four comments on The Bell Curve.
This paper first analyzes the central claim of the Bell Curve, to wit, that intelligence is declining in the United States. (Race is the inflammatory issue in the book, but is said to be only a side issue by the authors.) Part II of the paper then discusses how in principle one could determine whether race affects IQ, and how the difficulty of doing so in practice may explain the wildly different conclusions people arrive at in this area. Part III then points out how the assumption that the attribute under discussion is properly portrayed with a 'bell curve' itself is a misunderstanding; the Normal distribution is a sign that a piece of research has allowed for all the relevant variables, rather than a description of a characteristic as found in nature. And Part IV reminds us of how IQ test scores come to resemble a bell curve--entirely an artifact of the test makers.
Simon
J L
JL
College of Business and Management, University of Maryland at College Park 20742, USA.
D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D005298:Fertility; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007360:Intelligence / Q000235:genetics; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008960:Models, Psychological; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000235:genetics; D014481:United States